In case you have not read the 3.0 review, AstraSync is a Microsoft ActiveSync based application, allowing you to synchronize your ActiveSync enabled account’s email, calendar and contacts with your Blackberry. There are many email servers in the market that supports ActiveSync, from Microsoft Exchange to Kerio, MailSite Fusion to Zimbra. The beauty of this solution is you don’t need a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) installed on your mail server or you don’t need BES enabled on your Blackberry account at your carrier. After a few setup steps, it starts synchronizing your emails, calendar and contacts smoothly.

Notes and Tasks synchronization, similar to BES, is planned for version 5.0. One word of advise, if you choose to sync calendar or contacts, since it uses the native calendar and contacts databases, it will first clear them out.

The interface is very clean and easy to use. I scheduled my emails for “Direct Push”, in other words sync as they arrive, during business hours and 15 minute check intervals after that. This helps to save battery life, though I have to admit the battery usage is not affected that badly even if I enable direct push at all times.

While I love AstraSync and use it daily, it has still a great ways to go. For example, AstraSync runs as a J2ME application, not a native Blackberry application. When you start the application you get 2 warnings, one for calendar and one for contacts:

This also prevents the application automatically starting after a reboot. According to MailSite, they have applied for the RIM’s developer program but they were yet to be accepted. And this was like 10 months ago. I don’t know what’s really going on there.

Also, by default HTML email viewer is not enabled, so you may see HTML emails like below, only with few words of text, rest is empty:

You have to go under Email Settings and enable “HTML Support”. This clears out the email database (AstraSync uses its own, doesn’t use native email database) and repopulates your email account to your device.

However, even after enabling it, the HTML emails are not fully viewable. The images are missing. See the handheld and desktop versions of the same email below:

While MailSite was quick to claim that they were “first BlackBerry ActiveSync application to support HTML” in their press release, from my perspective, it still needs work. Also, I have to add, if you enable HTML support, opening any HTML email takes considerably longer time. Of course this is better than not being able to see its content.

There is a good amount of screenshots if you want to take a peek at AstraSync web site. Overall, it is a great application, getting better with every update. I highly recommend it.

Pros:
* Clean interface
* Easy to use
* Allows you to sync your Exchange or any ActiveSync capable mail server’s emails, calendar and contacts without need for a BES server.

Cons:

* It is not a native Blackberry application
* Emails are not integrated into native Blackberry email client.
* HTML emails do not display images

Have you checked out Notifysync 4.7 available from http://www.notifysync.co.uk it seems to be far more rounded with better features than astrasync. Im sure the html in notifysync was around before astrasync and seems to work with images and exchange 2003 whilst we have huge problems getting astrasync to work with our 2003 server. Plus I couldnt find anyway to send meeting requests via astrasync but in notifysync they work alongside task sync and memo syncing

As an FYI, Astrasync is compatable w Nuevasync’s $25/year Google Sync service that syncs Gmail or Google Apps email/Unlimited Google Calendars/Google Contacts/& your Toodledo account as Tasks- to phones w ActiveSync or Exchange sync ability. So, for 74 bucks a year you can have a nearly full BES sync w your Google Account, still on BIS